Jacket Required: Should Men Dress Up to Eat?

Jacket-required dining. Whether you view it as a vestige of a time we're glad has passed, or the last bastion of propriety in a world gone mad, there's no getting around the fact that it's dying out. Still, there are a few holdouts in New York, in the form of "about nine" top-tier restaurants that require male diners to wear a sport coat to be seated, as the Times recently reported.

This, really, isn't shocking. These are, after all, high-end establishments that cater to their fair share of fusty old propriety-lovers, the kind of people who probably wish that Emily Post's zombified corpse would come to Manhattan and put all these uncouth 21st Century slobs in their place. What is interesting, however, is how these establishments are evolving to adapt to the modern world. Still more telling: Some guys are actually embracing the formal dress codes of yore — even when they're not mandated.

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We've all heard of — if not necessarily worn — the "loaner" jacket. Given to men who show up to dine without a blazer of their own, these temporary sport coats used to be universally ugly and oversized (think patchwork madras in size 44XXL), an aesthetic choice possibly designed to shame the underdressed into thinking more carefully about their sartorial choices before their next visit.

But now, in response to the casualization of dress in recent years, restaurants like Per Se and Daniel have changed things up, sweetening the deal for the shirtsleeves-clad guys who make use of their loaners. "At some of the most exclusive restaurants in New York," the Times notes, "the hideous loaner jacket has been replaced with its stylish designer cousin — blazers from Calvin Klein hang next to ones from Ralph Lauren, waiting to be taken for a spin." At Daniel Boulud's eponymous eatery, the jackets are even custom made. Not bad.

But here's the really fascinating part: Some men are borrowing said blazers even if it isn't required. The Four Seasons no longer requires a jacket to dine, but they keep a stable on-hand as they've found that many patrons are actually choosing to make use of the designer wares. Snobbery and tradition aside, it appears that the food establishment is learning an important lesson: Men nowadays no longer dress up just because they have to, they dress up because they want to. And we approve of this entirely.

Now, we're not saying there'll be a return to "dressing for dinner" in the tuxedoed, Victorian sense — and we're certainly not calling for one — but it's nice to know that when it comes to traditional, high-end dining, men have learned to appreciate, not rail against, the idea of matching the attire to the occasion. Give them the option, and they'll likely opt to be more stylish, rather than less. So, why not give them the option? It's as easy as really, really expensive pie.